January 26, 2007

JACKSON -- In front of an electric crowd of 600-plus at the Hangar Dome on Friday night, Millsaps used the home court to its advantage, improving to 5-0 at home with a convincing 79-67 win over the visitors from Centre College.

Less than four days after being named SCAC Player of the Week, junior forward Edrick Montgomery lived up to the hype, pouring in a game and team-high 23 points and 11 boards for his fourth double-double of the season.

Montgomery was a solid 8 of 11 from the field, including a thunderous dunk over Colonels defender John Patterson late in the second half that brought the crowd to their feet.

Millsaps (12-6, 7-1 Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference) scored 20 points off 17 Centre turnovers and held the Colonels to a dismal 22 percent (5-of-22) from beyond the arc en route to the 12-point victory.

Five different Majors were in double figures, including Rodney Rogan (10), Lorenzo Bailey (11) and Montgomery (23), while junior guard Deonte Oscar and freshman guard Blake Martinez provided a spark off the bench with 12 and 10.

For Centre College (14-4, 6-2 SCAC), T.C. Thomason and Matt Nestheide led the way offensively, chipping in 18 and 14 on a combined 10 of 17 shooting.

With Millsaps' 79-67 win over Centre and DePauw's 78-65 win at Rhodes, the two teams remain in a two-way tie for first place, while the Colonels fall to second at 6-2 in conference play.

The Majors and Tigers will battle for the top spot in the SCAC on Sunday, tipping off at 1 p.m. in the Hangar Dome.